Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Which character is better, Yasuke or Naoe?

Here’s our breakdown of Naoe vs Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Should you play as Yasuke or Naoe in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Assassin’s Creed Shadows offers two protagonists with very different skills - Yasuke the samurai and Naoe the shinobi. Once you unlock the ability to play as both about ten or so hours into the game, you can freely alternate between the duo. Even though you’re not locked into your choice, you might be wondering which is the better character.

The answer varies, as each has their own strengths and weaknesses given the situation. The good news is you are not penalised from focusing on one character over the other, and both will gain the same amount of experience and will have their own Mastery points that can be spent on learning or upgrading skills. In this guide, we’ll go further in detail, presenting the key differences between Yasuke and Naoe that will help inform your approach.

In this guide:

• Yasuke vs Naoe
• Yasuke’s strengths and weaknesses
• Naoe’s strengths and weaknesses

Yasuke vs Naoe

You can’t go wrong with either of these two, but they do specialise in slightly different areas |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

• If you want to go in loud, play as Yasuke.
• If you prefer to be sneaky and silent, then play as Naoe.

Simply put, Yasuke’s better for combat and Naoe’s better for stealth . When it comes to exploring the world, sneaking around, and reaching collectibles without any issues, make sure you play as Naoe - you’ll be grateful for her grappling hook. When you need to take on a difficult boss or plow through a mob without sacrificing your health bar, switch to Yasuke and take pride in his ability to kick anyone into oblivion. If you want more of a challenge, swap them around.

Yasuke’s strengths and weaknesses

Yasuke is a physically strong character best equipped for combat. Clad in hefty samurai armour, he not only has strong defence but starts with a big health bar that can definitely take a beating. He can also hold a maximum of 5 rations to restore his health, which also helps him survive for longer in battle.

Further emphasising his hulking size, Yasuke can smash through wooden doors and other environments when sprinting, and also knock down foes in his path. He can go toe-to-toe with bigger foes, and even has an ability where he can smash his foot into enemies, comically sending them flying into the air.

Yasuke’s a powerhouse who can plow through armies of opponents without breaking a sweat, but his sneaky skills aren’t the most refined. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Yasuke’s size works less in his favour when it comes to stealth. He can still hide in hay bales, or go prone in long grass to avoid being detected, but he is lacking Naoe’s natural skill at platforming. Although Yasuke can automatically parkour up buildings with holds, he can’t grapple up to higher points unless there’s already a ladder there. And if you try doing a leap of faith from a high point with him, he’ll hilariously topple into the hay bale without much grace.

Yasuke also won’t be able to hide in tight spots like wells, and since he lacks the hidden blade, his assassinations are brutal and noisy. If you equip him with a bow though, he at least has a stealth attack option at range.

Naoe’s strengths and weaknesses

As a shinobi equipped with the hidden blade, Naoe plays very much like a classic Assassin’s Creed character and feels even faster than most of the other protagonists in the series. Her grappling hook makes it easy to reach high places without needing to find a path with handholds, and she can also activate Eagle Vision to highlight nearby enemies, making them appear as red or orange silhouettes through walls.

Naoe has a plethora of ways to stay out of sight, and her small physique allows her to hide in wells or cases, which you can pop out from to deliver a quick assassination. You can also upgrade her assassination skills so that she can kill a target from behind a shoji panel, or even perform a double assassination on two targets standing close together.

Naoe is one of the most nimble Assassin’s Creed protagonists ever. But beware of getting one-shot by a big hit. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Facing the enemy in direct combat is risky, though. That is mostly down to Naoe having a significantly smaller health bar than Yasuke, while she can only carry a maximum of three rations. Her weapons also deal very little damage compared to the heavy strikes of Yasuke’s long katana or kanabo. When up against a tough boss, Naoe can easily get decimated in two or three hits, depending on your game’s difficulty level.

Ultimately, choosing Naoe means you should focus more on perfecting your stealth, though some targets may be too strong to succumb to your hidden blade, so you may still need to finish them off in direct combat. (Unless of course you turn on the guaranteed assassination option in the menu.) Naoe can at least wield a kusarigama, which allows her to use melee attacks with a little extra distance, and her Mastery skills include a shinobi abillity that lets her jump over an enemy after deflecting their attack, providing another evasive option.

That’s about it for our comparison of Naoe and Yasuke in AC Shadows. For more on learning how to switch between these two protagonists, see our guide on how to change characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. And if you want to practice getting your skills down with both Naoe and Yasuke in combat, see our guide on how to parry and deflect .

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Mac , Nintendo Switch 2

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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